Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Re-Write
by CrashCobalt92
Summary: Sequel to the CoS Re-Write. Harry and Tony are in for a very difficult year. Harry learns that someone is out to kill him, and Tony has a dark secret that could alienate him from his friends. How will they get through the school year? Will they make it through the school year? How much will Tony's secret affect his school life? All answers will be revealed as the story progresses.
1. Good News and Bad News

Chapter One: Good News and Bad News

It was about a week before school started again, and Riley Cross and Tony Gabriel were spending that week at Tony's house, studying up on Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was a little village not too far from Hogwarts that the Third Year students and above would be visiting on the weekends. According to the Weasley males, the village contained shops with sweets, jokes, and school supplies, there was even a shop that sold Quidditch gear, which Riley and Tony wanted to check out. Riley looked up from the map that he and the other Third Years were given at the end of their Second Year.

"Here's a place you'd like to check out, Tony." he pointed out. "The Shrieking Shack."

"So, just because it's named the 'Shrieking Shack', you'd think I'd like it?" Tony asked, slowly.

"It's supposed to be haunted."

"Now we're talking."

Riley rolled his eyes at him, before returning his attention to the map. As he continued to scan it, the two boys heard a knock at the door, and looked at each other.

"That was quick." said Tony. "Hermione said she'd be here later."

"Yeah, but didn't we get that message about an hour ago?" asked Riley. "Her plane couldn't have gotten her back here that quickly. Dad says a ride from Paris to London would take about a little over an hour."

Hermione Granger, a friend of theirs, was in France with her parents for summer break, and was to be arriving back today. She wanted to meet up with the two of them to head out to Diagon Alley with them so that they could pick up their new school supplies together and talk about their summer vacations.

Tony and Riley heard a knock at the front door again, and stood up. The only ones in the house right now were them and Mrs. Gabriel, Tony's mother. Their fathers were out of town on a business trip to Egypt, and let the Weasley family ride with them as they were headed the same way. Arthur Weasley, the father of the Weasley children who attended Hogwarts with the two boys and Hermione, had won a lottery, and used his winnings to take his family on a trip to Egypt. Prof. Cross and Prof. Gabriel, already having been asked to come all the way out there beforehand, offered to let them ride in their plane with them. Dr. Cross was at work, having been called in for a big operation. That left Mrs. Gabriel, who seemed to be busy at the moment. So the two teenagers decided to see who was at the door.

"You think my dad forgot his keys again?" asked Tony.

"No, your dad is more stern than scatterbrained." replied Riley.

"Okay, maybe you invited your girlfriend over."

Riley growled softly, annoyed. This had been a running joke since last year, when Riley befriended a new girl named Luna Lovegood. To others, she seemed rather odd, but to Riley, he saw that she was just about as sane as any other person he met. So his friends started teasing him, saying that Luna was his girlfriend, much to his irritation. Riley rounded on his best friend, a rare show of annoyance on his face, as he prodded his finger into Tony's chest.

"She. Is. Not. My. Girl. Friend." he claimed, emphasizing his point with each poke.

Tony raised his hands in mock surrender, and continued walking down the stairs.

"Alright, then who do you think it is?" asked Tony. "'Cause Hermione's not the kind of person to make surprise visits."

"I don't know. Girl scouts?" Riley guessed, shrugging.

"Are there even any girl scouts in England?"

"As a matter of fact, there are."

"Alright, then, if there are girl scouts at the door, you can shoo 'em away."

Riley let out a chuckle, as they reached the door.

"You're still afraid of them?" he asked.

"No, I'm not afraid of them!" Tony answered, hotly.

"Not even of little Janie Edwards?"

"You have five seconds to shut up, or you'll be on traction for the rest of your life."

Tony finally opened the door, and both he and Riley were met with a huge surprise on the other side. Standing on the other side of the doorway were Lucius Malfoy and another woman, who they assumed was his wife. She had long brown and blond hair, pale blue eyes, and wore black robes that matched her husband's. Tony and Riley stood in the doorway, stunned at what they were seeing, and felt their hearts pound in their chests with shock. They never expected this.

"Well? Are you going to let us in?" asked Mr. Malfoy.

"I'm sorry, my mom doesn't allow strangers into the house." Tony croaked in response. "Please have a nice day."

He made to slam the door shut, but Mr. Malfoy quickly caught it, chuckling darkly.

"I must insist." he responded.

Riley quickly booked it up the stairs to Tony's room, while Tony tried to close the door, but Mr. Malfoy would not give.

"You're not getting into this house!" yelled Tony. "No pure-blood supremacists allowed!"

"Open the door!" Mr. Malfoy snapped, trying to push his way through.

Riley slid down the railing towards Tony, and handed him his wand. Just in time, too, as Mr. Malfoy had succeeded in wearing the young Slytherin down. The two boys stood a few feet back, facing Mr. Malfoy with their wands out, but to their surprise, Mr. Malfoy didn't have his wand out at all. Before anyone could say anything, Mrs. Gabriel walked out of the living room to see what was going on.

"Anthony Joseph, and Riland Balthazar!" she shouted. "What are you two doing?! Let them into the house right now!"

She walked past the two boys, shocking them, and walked to the door.

"I'm sorry about those two, please come in." Mrs. Gabriel said, quickly.

"Thank you." Mr. Malfoy said, his voice somewhat strained.

The three adults walked past the stunned teenage boys, who stood rooted to the spot in the hallway, before slowly turning to look at each other.

"What just happened?" asked Tony.

"I don't know." replied Riley.

"Boys, come in here, please!" called Mrs. Gabriel. "We need to talk!"

As the two boys went to the living room, Tony whistled the funeral march tune, which they felt was rather fitting to the situation. They sat down on the couch between the longer three-seat couch that the Malfoys were sitting on, and the recliner that Mrs. Gabriel was seated in. Mrs. Gabriel seemed a little tense, and Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy appeared like they didn't want to be there at the moment, something did not feel right to the boys at all. Then Mrs. Gabriel finally spoke.

"Tony, I want you to promise that you'll listen until the very end of the conversation, and try to keep your emotions in check." she said, looking at her son.

"Sure, mom." replied Tony.

Though he didn't like where this was already going.

"Riley, that goes for you as well." Mrs. Gabriel added, looking at Riley.

"Come on, it's me." Riley reminded her.

Mrs. Gabriel took a deep breath, and exhaled softly, looking uncomfortable.

"Tony, you're adopted." she spoke, as calmly as she could.

Tony made a noise in his throat that sounded as if he was trying to fight back the thousands of things he wanted to say at that moment, and his expression said it all. It was torn between anger, shock, and nausea, perhaps more. Riley himself let his jaw drop a little, no words attempting to come out of his mouth. For a moment, the two of them were afraid that the next words out of her mouth would be to say that Tony was the son of the two Malfoys sitting in the same room as they were.

"But these two aren't your parents, they are...your biological aunt and uncle." explained Mrs. Gabriel.

Tony didn't know whether to feel relieved or scared still. He didn't mind the whole adopted thing, it was just where he came from that worried him. And the fact that he was part Malfoy, that scared him. His rep at Hogwarts was finished either way, no Gryffindor would want to be friends with him now. Except Riley, maybe, but not even Harry, Ron, or Hermione would want anything to do with him if they ever found out.

"Excuse me?" Riley spoke, softly, as he raised his hand. "If Mr. Malfoy and his wife aren't Tony's parents, then who is? And why are they here?"

"Because I insisted on this meeting." Mrs. Malfoy answered. "I wanted to meet my older sister's son."

"Wait, I thought that you Malfoys were pure-bloods. Tony and I are Muggleborns."

"According to Severus, it was Dumbledore's idea."

Mrs. Malfoy looked as if she wanted to say more, but did not. She then took a picture out of her purse, and handed it to Tony. The picture showed a woman with long dark hair, pale skin, and a beautiful face, although appearing very arrogant.

"This is your real mother." Mrs. Malfoy explained. "Her name is Bellatrix Lestrange."

"I don't see the resemblance." said Tony.

Riley didn't seem to think so, but out of respect, he kept his mouth shut.

"So, what, does this mean that Mal-Draco and I've gotta start hanging out and being buddy-buddy?" asked Tony. "'Cause you do realize how this will affect all of our reputations, right?"

"I am fully aware, and we will be keeping this little family matter a secret." Mr. Malfoy stated, a little relief in his voice. "But my wife insists that Anthony and Draco spends a week in the summer and one school holiday trying to get along as cousins."

If Tony didn't look worried before, he was now. As did Riley.

"So, boys, Draco will be coming over for Christmas break, and during the summer, Tony, you'll go visit your biological family for a week." explained Mrs. Gabriel.

"Okay, yeah, sounds like a blast, just one question: How did my cousin take this news?" asked Tony.

"We haven't told him yet." replied Mrs. Malfoy.

Riley and Tony thought to themselves that Draco would end up taking the news possibly worse than Tony would.

"So, we'll just be going now." said Mr. Malfoy.

The two of them stood up, and headed to the door, saying their goodbyes as they left, while Tony sat in his seat, stunned.

"I'm related to the Malfoys." he spoke, smiling weakly. "I'm related to the Malfoys, and we're going to be spending Christmas with Draco Malfoy."

"You alright, Tony?" Riley asked, concerned.

"Riley, what did I do to piss off the universe so much that they decided to curse me for all eternity? I mean, I don't mind being an adopted child, it's just...this is cruel and unusual punishment. This is worse than being grounded. This is worse than any detention you could ever get at Hogwarts."

"...Okay, now you're being overly dramatic."

* * *

Yeah, thought this up last minute before I decided to post. I couldn't concentrate that well on much else, so I'm gonna work on the next installment of the HP Re-Writes.

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.

Update (9/19/18): Rewrite is in progress to add more chapters.


	2. School Shopping and Reunions

Chapter Two: School Shopping and Reunions

Hermione raced up the steps to the house, and knocked on the door a few times. It took a few moments for someone to respond, as she was greeted by Mrs. Gabriel, who opened the door.

"Are Tony and Riley here?" asked Hermione. "We're about to head to Diagon Alley to shop for our school supplies for this year."

"Yes, they're upstairs. I'll call them down." answered Mrs. Gabriel.

She stepped back to look up the stairs.

"Boys, Hermione is here!" she called. "Get ready to go!"

"Okay, mom!" Tony shouted back.

Hermione stepped back to wait outside the door for her friends, and about five minutes later, both Tony and Riley hurried out of the door, pulling on their jackets. As they headed for the car, Hermione noted that Tony appeared to be very gloomy.

"Is something wrong, Tony?" she asked.

Tony quickly brightened up and put on a fake smile.

"Oh, no, I'm good. I'm cool." he lied, trying to be as cheerful as possible.

Hermione looked as if she didn't buy his act, but left it alone. Mr. and Mrs. Granger drove to the Leaky Cauldron, and parked the car as close to the door as possible. As the Grangers, Riley, and Tony walked towards the door, Hermione looked at the school list again.

"This year, we have to get our core classes books for our grades, and for our new electives." she told her two friends.

"I've also got to pick up a new instrument." said Tony. "Now, which one should I get?"

"Not a piano, unless you want to drag it all the way back home." cracked Riley.

"Seems all three of us are going to be busy this year." muttered Hermione.

"Did you sign up for some electives this year, Hermione?" asked Tony.

"No. Not exactly. I just think this year's going to be pretty hectic."

"You can say that again." agreed Riley.

Hermione led the others to the back of the closet in the back of the pub, and tapped her wand against the bricks. Within seconds, the entrance to Diagon Alley was opened, and the group walked through. Mr. and Mrs. Granger headed to Gringotts with Hermione to exchange some of their Muggle money for wizard money for Hermione's school supplies, while Tony and Riley went to gather their school supplies, having already gotten their money from their fathers before they left. The part of the shopping trip that shocked them the most was when they retrieved their new Care for Magical Creatures books, which were like leather-covered, book-shaped piranhas. The boys felt sorry for him, as he pulled on his gloves, and reached into an iron cage to take out two copies of the books. They decided to get Hermione's copy at the same time, to try and give the man a break for a while.

After they finished shopping for their school supplies, Tony and Riley dropped their things off in the Leaky Cauldron in a room that they and the Grangers were renting for a while, and headed back to get their robes fitted and their new supplies for their electives. Before he could get far though, Riley was stopped by Hermione, who grabbed his arm.

"Riley, would you mind coming with me for a moment?" asked Hermione. "I need your opinion on something."

"Sure." shrugged Riley.

Hermione led him down the street towards a shop called "Magical Menagerie", and walked inside.

"Oh, you're getting a new pet?" asked Riley.

"Yes, and I want your opinion on which one I should get." Hermione answered, looking around the store.

"Why me?"

"Because Tony might tell me to get something that attacks and rips the pants off of people."

Riley exploded into laughter, knowing Tony probably would suggest that. Once he calmed down, the two of them began to browse the shop.

"Alright, what kind of pet are you looking for?" asked Riley.

"Something not too crazy or wild for starters." replied Hermione.

They examined each of the pets, from rabbits that could transform into a silk top hat and toads of various kinds to cats, ravens, and snails. Then Hermione stopped by one cage holding a fluffy orange tabby cat.

"Holy Overfluffed Cats, Batman." Riley said, staring at the cat in shock.

"I think it's precious." Hermione decided with a smile.

She looked back at the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me?" she called. "I would like to know how much for this cat."

* * *

While Riley and Hermione were shopping in the Magical Menagerie shop, Tony was sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, tapping his fingers against the table he was sitting at. He was waiting for Hermione and Riley to finish up their shopping so they could get some ice cream. Tony felt that he was about to die of boredom waiting for his friends, until finally...

"Hey, Tony!" Fred's voice called.

"Our favorite Slytherin buddy!" George's voice followed after.

Tony looked up to see Fred and George, the twins of the Weasley family, standing nearby, waving at him. He stood up, and hurried over to them.

"Hey, no one told us you were back already!" he called.

"We wanted to surprise you." said Fred. "Where's Riley and Hermione at?"

"Don't know. But I was getting bored waiting for them."

"We've just about finished shopping for our school stuff, Ginny should be with mum and dad, and Ron's at Magical Menagerie picking up something for Scabbers." George explained. "Maybe either of them will have seen one of the two."

As soon as he said that, they heard a loud shout. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and looked around, wondering who screamed.

"What's Ron going on about this time?" Fred wondered aloud.

"Maybe there was a humongous spider in the Magical Menagerie shop." Tony guessed, casually.

He and the Weasley twins set off to the shop, and saw Scabbers racing out of the shop, with a very fluffy orange cat chasing after it.

"That's the second fluffiest cat I've ever seen." commented Tony.

Ron hurried out of the shop, shoving past him, and took chase after the animals.

"Scabbers, come back! Scabbers!" he shouted.

Hermione charged after him, looking annoyed and angry at the same time.

"Ronald Weasley, don't you dare harm that cat!" she shouted after her friend.

Fred, George, and Tony watched as Hermione chased after Ron, who was chasing after the cat, who was chasing after Scabbers.

"And it's not even the beginning of the year yet." Tony muttered, annoyed.

Riley showed up beside them, and looks at the trio.

"Excuse me, I have to prevent a murder." he said, politely.

With that, the comic-book addicted teen chased after the four.

"Whose murder?" asked Tony.

"Either Scabbers' or Ron's." guessed George.

"Nah, more likely the cat's."

"Or Riley's for trying to stop them." joked Fred.

Tony quickly shot out of his seat after his friends, now worried for the life of his best friend.

* * *

Riley reached Hermione and Ron at last, and caught them in one of their usual bickering sessions. It was a wonder why the two were still friends since they hardly ever got along with each other. Ever since the day they met, Ron and Hermione were always annoyed by each other, but with the help of a rogue mountain troll, the two finally forged a friendship, but as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Tony had rushed in right behind Riley as he approached the two angry friends.

"You bought a cat? You bought a cat?!" Ron had shouted.

"I didn't know you were in charge of deciding what I was allowed and not allowed to have for a pet." Hermione responded, pretending to be shocked for a moment. "It's not as if he'll be in the same dorm as you, Crookshanks will be living with me."

"If Scabbers doesn't come back alive, then you won't have a cat anymore."

"Try it, and I'll make you regret it."

Tony decided at this time to intervene, and stepped between his two friends.

"Mom, dad, please stop fighting." he pleaded with them.

"Stay out of this, Tony!" both Hermione and Ron shouted, not looking away from each other.

Tony stepped back, raising his hands in surrender, and Riley took a huge step back himself. At that moment, Scabbers and Crookshanks suddenly appeared, racing down the stairs. Ron knelt down quickly to pick up Scabbers, while Hermione picked up Crookshanks in her arms.

"Scabbers, are you alright?" asked Ron.

"My cat didn't hurt him, don't worry." Hermione told him.

"I'm warning you, Hermione. Keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers, or I'll turn it into a tea cozy!"

"It's a cat, Ronald. What do you expect?"

"A cat? Is that what they told you? Looks like a pig with hair if you ask me."

"That's rich, coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush. It's alright, Crookshanks, just ignore the mean little boy."

"Come on, guys, people are starting to talk." Tony told them.

"I'm warning you, Tony." Ron warned him.

"Maybe he wouldn't have to involve himself if you'd stop being such a-" Hermione griped back.

" _Okay_ , I think you two need to take a breather!" Riley intervened quickly. "If this keeps up, we're going to need a steel cage!"

"Yeah, and Fred and George to sell tickets." joked Tony.

He looked up, and saw Harry standing on the staircase, looking down at them. He was dressed in a navy blue and white-striped jacket over a red shirt with long white sleeves, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

"And I see someone's already interested in getting the first ticket." he observed.

Ron looked up to see what he was talking about, and saw Harry as well.

"Harry!" he exclaimed.

Hermione and Riley followed his gaze, and smiled, too.

"Harry!" the former gasped, happily.

* * *

After helping Mr. and Mrs. Granger load up the new school supplies into their car, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tony, and Riley returned to the Leaky Cauldron to catch up before the latter three had to leave. The five friends gathered at the table, with Harry, Ron, and Riley sitting on one side, while Tony and Hermione sat on the other. Ron was showing a recent edition of the Daily Prophet that featured the Weasley family on the front cover, waving at the camera and smiling. He explained that his family won a huge lottery, and used their winnings to pay for a trip to Egypt. To their surprise, they had met up with Prof. Gabriel and Prof. Cross, Tony and Riley's fathers, who were helping out on an excavation in some of the pyramids.

"Egypt. What's it like?" asked Harry.

"Brilliant." replied Ron. "Loads of old stuff like mummies, tombs, even Scabbers enjoyed himself."

"You know, the Egyptians used to worship cats." Hermione informed him.

"Yeah, along with the dung beetle."

"Guys." Tony started, glaring at both of them. "Cool it."

"Not flashing that clipping again?" asked Fred.

He, George, and the rest of the Weasleys started pouring into the room, the twins heading toward the five friends.

"I haven't shown anyone." Ron defended, looking at his brothers, as Fred snatched up the newspaper clip.

"No, not a soul." George agreed, sarcastically. "Not unless you count Tom,..."

"The day maid,..." Fred added, following after his twin.

"The night maid,..."

"The cook,..."

"The bloke who fixed the toilet,..."

"And that wizard from Belgium."

"We get it." Tony called, rubbing at one side of his head.

Mrs. Weasley now walked towards the five teenagers, and smiled at Harry, who got up to greet her.

"Got everything?" she asked.

"Yes." replied Harry.

"Yes? All your books?"

"It's all upstairs."

"And all of your clothes?"

"Everything."

"Good boy."

Mrs. Weasley walked over to hug Riley now, and hugged Tony over the table.

"Riley, Tony, good to see you, too, boys." she greeted.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley." responded Tony.

"Are you two ready for school?"

"Yes, ma'am." replied Riley.

"Very good."

Once Mrs. Weasley walked away, Tony looked at Riley, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.

"Anyone up for some ice cream?" he offered. "I'm buying."

"When Harry and my dad are finished talking, yeah." Ginny agreed, looking back at Harry and Mr. Weasley, who were walking down the side of the room, talking.

* * *

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.


	3. Invasion of the Hogwarts Express

Chapter Three: Invasion of the Hogwarts Express

It was a busy, rainy morning when September 1st came around, and everyone rushed to get into King's Cross station to avoid getting the animals drenched. Several of the students didn't even have time to get dressed into their Hogwarts robes, so they had wore casual clothing. In Harry and his friends' cases, they had worn their clothes from yesterday. In the massive chaos, Ron had almost forgotten his pet rat, Scabbers, and Mrs. Weasley handed the rodent to him through a window in time, reminding him not to lose it. The train pulled out of the station as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tony, and Riley marched down the aisle to look for an empty compartment. They were late, and so they missed out on plenty of good seats. As they walked, Harry explained what happened to him in the summer. He had blown up his awful aunt after she insulted his parents so maliciously. Hermione remained the only voice of reason of the group, while Ron and Tony laughed, and Riley thought Harry was in the right, even if he didn't mean to do it.

"Brilliant." Ron commented, when Harry was finished telling the story.

"She should've been turned into a dog." Tony said, grinning.

"Honestly, you two, it's not funny." Hermione scolded them. "Harry was lucky not to be expelled."

"I think I was lucky enough not to be arrested, Hermione." Harry pointed out.

"I still think it was brilliant." Ron said, on the verge of laughing.

"Little bit of bad karma goes a long way." Riley told his friends.

Hermione glanced into a compartment and looked at her friends.

"Come on, everywhere else is full." she said.

All but Riley filed into the compartment, while Riley walked back the other way.

"Where's he going?" asked Ron.

"Probably to sit with Ginny and Luna." answered Hermione.

Ron nodded, then as he sat down, he looked up at the man sleeping by the window.

"Who do you think that is?" he asked.

"'Prof. R.J. Lupin.'" replied Hermione.

Ron stared at her in surprise.

"Do you know everything?" he asked, amazed. "How is it that she knows everything?" he added, looking at his friends.

"It's on his suitcase, Ronald." Hermione told him, pointing at the suitcase next to where Harry was putting his things.

Ron looked up at the suitcase and saw the exact title that Hermione described the teacher as. Harry and Tony looked up at it as well, and Tony snickered at his friend.

"Oh, shut up." growled Ron.

Harry glanced at the man sitting beside him.

"Do you think he's really asleep?" he asked.

"Seems to be." replied Hermione. "Why?"

Harry stood up and closed the compartment door.

"I've gotta tell you something." he explained.

Harry explained to Ron, Hermione, and Tony what Mr. Weasley was talking to him about the previous day. Harry was told that Sirius Black, a recently escaped murderer from Azkaban, and was apparently a faithful servant to Voldemort. He swore to Mr, Weasley that he'd avoid Sirius at all costs, because Sirius escaped Azkaban for one reason, and one reason only.

"Let me get this straight." Ron was saying. "Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to come after you?"

"Yeah." answered Harry.

"But they'll catch Black, won't they?" asked Hermione. "I mean, everyone's looking for him."

"Sure." responded Ron. "Except, no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before, and he's a murderous, raving lunatic."

"Thanks, Ron." Harry said, dryly.

"Come on, guys. Harry took down Voldemort twice all by himself, and that big freakin' basilisk, too." Tony reminded them. "Sirius Black's got no chance. If that Voldemort wuss is as tough as everybody says he is, and Harry's been able to kick his butt twice, he can wipe the floor with anything that crosses his path."

As soon as he said that, the train suddenly jolted a little, and came to a sudden stop.

"Why are we stopping?" asked Hermione. "We can't be there yet."

Harry quickly got up and poke his head out of the compartment. Several of the students, including Riley, had done the same thing. The train shook violently again, causing many of the students to scream, and fall back into their compartments.

"Me and my big mouth." groaned Tony.

"Yeah. Thanks." said Ron. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." replied Harry. "Maybe we've broken down."

The lights suddenly went out, and Ron pressed his face against the window to see what was going on. He accidentally stepped on Hermione's foot in the process while trying to see what was going on as the lights flickered back on.

"There's something moving out there." whimpered Ron.

Tony shot to his feet and tried to get a better look also, and he saw a black, shadowy figure approaching the train. The lights suddenly went out again, and the compartment door opened again, with Riley joining his friends, and closing the door behind him.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Everyone's freaking out."

"We don't know." replied Hermione.

Ron had a different answer though.

"I think someone's coming aboard." he alerted his friends.

The train shook violently again, causing Riley to nearly fall onto Hermione. To the group's surprise, they saw that a sheet of ice was starting to grow on the windows, as the room got more and more colder.

"I'm going back to my compartment." Riley said, shaking.

"Good idea." agreed Hermione. "Go look after Ginny."

Riley opened the compartment door, and stepped out of it, then closed the door behind him. As he did that, the train shook again.

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron. "What's happening?!"

Hermione noticed that Riley was still standing outside of the compartment, and looked at him.

"Guys?" she called, weakly.

Harry, Ron, and Tony looked back at her, confused, and saw she was staring at Riley. They looked at him also, and saw a look of pure terror on his face.

"Riley?" called Harry. "Are you alright?"

Riley didn't say anything. He started backing away very slowly. What scared him so much was a thin figure dressed in tattered black robes that reached out toward their compartment door with one hand with long, bony fingers, and made to open it, but never really touched the handle. The door slowly swung open, and the figure floated inside.

"Holy Hell." gasped Tony.

He and his friends watched in horror as it gazed around into the compartment, it's face obscured by the hood of it's cloak. Crookshanks hissed angrily at the new visitor, while Scabbers scurried out of sight. The cloaked figure glanced over at Harry, and the others watched as Harry's body started seizing up for a few seconds, then stopping, then seizing up again.

"Someone help!" shouted Tony.

Not even his screaming stopped the creature from whatever it was doing to Harry, but the man sitting beside Harry did something about it. He stood up and aimed his wand at the figure, causing a bright white light to shine out of the tip of it, and ward off the invader. The hooded being left the train within seconds, just as Harry passed out onto the seat. After the creature left, Hermione, Ron, Riley, and Tony raced over to their friend's side.

"Harry!" cried Hermione. "Harry, wake up!"

"Okay, let's not panic right now!" Ron shouted, grasping at clumps of his hair. "Nobody panic!"

"Shout a little louder, Ron." Tony spoke, looking up at him. "I'm sure the rest of the Slytherin didn't hear you yet."

"Not now, Tony!" Riley snapped, glaring at him.

Hermione continued to call out to Harry, as the lights finally turned back on, and the train started to move again. Then Ron looked up at Tony.

"Tony, try that water spell you did last year." he suggested.

"And flood the compartment?" asked Tony. "Not a chance."

"There'd be no need anyway." said Riley.

He pointed at Harry, who was now starting to wake up. Hermione handed him his glasses, and Prof. Lupin withdrew a small box of chocolate from his pocket, as Harry thanked his friend.

"Here, eat this." Prof. Lupin said, handing a piece of chocolate to Harry. "It'll help. It's alright. It's chocolate."

Harry hesitantly took the piece of candy from the man, then looked around.

"What was that thing that came?" he asked.

"It was a dementor." replied Prof. Lupin. "One of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now."

"Azkaban." repeated Riley. "That wizard prison, right?"

"Yes. It was searching the train for Sirius Black."

Prof. Lupin set the box down by Harry, and stood up.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver." he said, heading for the door.

The man stopped and looked at Harry again.

"Eat. You'll feel better." he told the boy.

Harry nodded, and started to eat at the piece of chocolate in his hand, watching as man left down the aisle.

"What happened to me?" he asked.

"Well, you sort of went rigid." replied Ron. "We thought maybe you were having a fit or something."

"And did either of you guys, you know, pass out?"

"I thought I would." responded Riley. "That dementor gave me the creeps."

Harry glanced over at Tony, who shook his head, then at Ron and Hermione.

"No." Ron answered, shakily. "I felt weird though. Like I'd never be cheerful again."

"But someone was screaming." Harry told his friends. "A woman."

Ron and Hermione stared at him, puzzled, while Riley and Tony glanced around.

"No one was screaming, Harry." Hermione told Harry.

"Unless you count Tony shouting for help." Riley reminded her. "Other than that, it was quiet."

It was a quiet ride for the rest of the trip, and the Second through Seventh Years students rode the carriages to Hogwarts to attend the Sorting and the Welcome Feast that accompanied afterward. This year, the students were being treated to a song from the school's toad choir, who was performing a sort of concert for their teachers and classmates.

 _Double, double, toil and trouble;_

 _Fire burn and cauldron bubble._

 _Double, double, toil and trouble;_

 _Fire burn and cauldron bubble._

 _Double, double, toil and trouble;_

 _Fire burn and cauldron bubble._

 _Something wicked this way comes!_

The song finished with a croak from one of the toads held by a Ravenclaw student in the choir. The choir parted back to their tables to rejoin their Houses as the students and staff applauded them. Then Prof. Dumbledore, the school headmaster, stepped forward to begin his speech.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," he greeted, warmly. "Now, I'd like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast. First, I'm pleased to welcome Prof. R.J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck, professor."

The students let out a round of applause for the new staff member, as he rose to his feet. To Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony's surprise, it was the same man that was on the train with them.

"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed, looking at her friends. "That's why he knew to give you the chocolate, Harry!"

Behind Harry and Ron, Draco Malfoy, a bully from Slytherin House, hissed over at Harry.

"Potter! Potter!" he whispered, getting their attention. "Is it true you fainted?"

Beside Draco, another Slytherin boy pretended to faint, mocking Harry.

"I mean, you actually fainted?" Draco laughed, quietly.

"Shove off, Malfoy." growled Ron.

He and Harry turned back around to face Hermione and Riley again, while Jesse Reigns, Tony's friend from Slytherin, whacked in him in the kneecap with his walking stick, making Draco yelp in pain.

"How did he find out?" Harry asked, looking at his friends.

"Just forget it." replied Hermione.

Back up at the front of the Hall, Prof. Dumbledore continued to talk.

"...Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs." he continued. "Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid."

The students and staff started to applaud once again, their cheers growing louder as Hagrid accidentally bumped into the table, nudging it forward a little. Several of the students laughed, while Seamus whistled in excitement. Hagrid sat down again, causing the cheers to die down.

"Finally, on a more disquieting note, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban until such a time as Sirius Black is captured." Prof. Dumbledore went on. "The dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now, whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities, a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt, and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you."

Several of the students looked at each other, worried. Riley looked over his friends' heads and saw Tony looking back at him, swallowing hard.

"It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving." Prof. Dumbledore explained. "But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times,..."

He paused to wave his hand over a candle, causing it to go out.

"...if one only remembers to turn on the light." he finished, waving his hand over the candle again, lighting it again.

* * *

After the Welcoming Feast, the students headed off to their dormitories for bed. Along the way, the Gryffindors heard the sound of a woman singing like she would in an opera. Seamus jogged up the steps, and stood in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, trying to enter the password to gain entrance, but the Fat Lady continued to sing. Seamus then looked at his friends, who were walking up the staircase towards him.

"Here, listen." he said. "She just won't let me in."

Harry, Riley, Neville, Dean, Hermione, and Ron joined him at the top, and glanced at the Fat Lady.

"Fortuna Major." said Harry.

"No, no, no. Wait, wait." the Fat Lady responded, gesturing for him to wait.

She started singing again, and upon hitting the high notes, everyone in earshot either covered their ears or stared at the woman in the portrait.

"Points for effort!" Riley yelped, clamping his hands over his ears.

The Fat Lady continued to sing, until she smashed the glass in her hand against the wall painted behind her, then stopped. She pretended to gasp in amazement, looking proud of herself.

"Amazing! Just with my voice." she exclaimed, proudly.

"Fortuna Major!" Harry said, firmly.

The Fat Lady got the message.

"Yes, alright." she responded, as the portrait door opened. "Go in."

"Thank you." replied Harry.

He led his fellow Gryffindors through the common room, and separated to go into their correct rooms for the night to prepare for school the next day. Riley watched as his roommates took turns eating a piece of candy that allowed them to temporarily make various animal noises. Now it was Seamus' turn, and upon eating a green candy, he started sounding and acting like a monkey.

"Do not give him one again." Ron was saying, as the others laughed. "Hey, Neville, try an elephant." he added, throwing a yellow piece of candy towards Neville.

The accident-prone boy ate it, and started making trumpet noises, while spasming about like he was having a coughing fit. The other boys laughed, and then Ron looked towards where Riley was sitting.

"Riley, catch!" he shouted.

Riley nodded and caught the piece of candy in his mouth. After swallowing it, he started making hawk sounds. The other boys watched as he jumped from one bed to the next, pretending to fly like a bird.

"Someone get him a cracker so he will chill out!" Dean shouted, laughing.

Seamus waited for the candy's effect to fade away, then handed another piece to Ron. The others watched as Ron started to make lion noises for a moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Gryffindor mascot." joked Riley.

Ron and the other Gryffindors started to laugh, then stopped when they saw Harry taking a piece of candy for himself.

"Oh, don't try one of them." he warned, quickly.

Too late, Harry already devoured the candy, and smoke started to blow out of his ears. The others laughed at him now, then started throwing candy at each other.

* * *

Merry Christmas, readers! I decided to update twice for you guys!

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.


	4. First Day

Chapter Four: First Day

Riley and Tony walked out of the classroom where they had their Study on Ancient Runes lesson, and watched as Hermione darted past them, nearly knocking them down in the process.

"What's with Speedy Gonzales?" asked Tony.

"Well, we'll ask her when we see her in Care for Magical Creatures." replied Riley. "I can't wait. I just know I'm gonna ace this class."

"Ry, I hate to break it to you, buddy, but just 'cause your mom's a veterinarian doesn't mean you're the ultimate animal whisperer. You got lucky with Fluffy, but that doesn't mean you can connect with all of the animals in the magical world."

"You're just jealous 'cuz I got to make friends with a three-headed dog, Batboy."

Tony rounded on his best friend, thrusting a finger at him.

"I am not 'Batboy'!" he argued.

"Batman is practically Superman's best friend." Riley told him.

"I thought that was Jimmy Olsen."

"Aha! I knew you've been reading my comic books!"

Tony stomped on the ground, huffly, and marched out of the school with Riley following after him, laughing. Along the way, they saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking down the steps, too.

"You don't think that Grim thing's got anything to do with Sirius Black?" asked Ron.

"Oh, honestly, Ron!" exclaimed Hermione. "If you ask me, Divination's a woolly discipline. Now Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject."

"Ancient Runes? Exactly how many classes are you taking this term?"

"About as many as Riley and Tony are."

"But some of those classes are extra-curricular." Harry reminded his friends.

Ron suddenly stopped in his tracks, a puzzled look on his face.

"Hang on. That's not possible." he stated. "Ancient Runes is in the same time as Divination. You'd have to be in two classes at once."

He then noticed that Riley and Tony were walking their way.

"Guys, didn't you have Ancient Runes?" he asked.

"Yep." replied Tony.

"Very interesting to learn." said Riley.

"Did you see Hermione in your class?" asked Ron.

"Nope." Riley and Tony responded, casually.

Hermione continued to walk down the spiraling path, smiling.

"Don't be silly, Ronald. How could anyone be in two classes at once?" she asked Ron. "'Broaden your minds. Use your Inner Eye to see the future.'" she added, mockingly.

The five of them walked down towards Hagrid's hut, where the rest of their class was gathering.

"That's it. Come on, now. Come closer." Hagrid's voice called from the front of the group. "Less talking, if you don't mind."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony squeezed their way into the crowd, and awaited for further instructions.

"I got a real treat for you today." Hagrid announced, excitedly. "A great lesson. So follow me."

The students followed their professor into the Forbidden Forest, where they would have their lesson for the day. They stepped over a gap in the stone wall which surrounded a clearing, then watched as Hagrid faced them.

"Right, you lot. Less chattering." he instructed. "Form a group over there, and open your books to page 49."

In each of the students hands was a textbook, one that had a tattered cover that was bound shut with a leather strap. The books seemed to growl, as if waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Exactly how do we do that?" asked Draco.

"Just stroke the spine, of course." Hagrid replied, matter-of-factly. "Goodness me." he added, turning away.

The students did as they were instructed, and gently stroked the spine of the book. The books made a gentle groaning sound, and were opened without any trouble. Neville had the misfortune of opening first without stroking the spine, which led to the book attacking him.

"Don't be such a wimp, Longbottom." one of the other students chuckled.

Neville sat up again, looking a little worse for the wear.

"I'm okay." he panted. "Okay-AAH!"

The book suddenly leapt up, and attacked again. Bits of shredded paper flew up into the air from the book as it struck. Tony and Riley looked at one another, and set their books down to play a game of rock, paper, and scissors. Tony had defeated his friend with "scissors", and watched as Riley went to help Neville, before joining up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"I think they're funny." Hermione declared, huffly.

"Oh, yeah. Terribly funny." Draco agreed, sarcastically. "Really witty."

The other students turned to face him and his group of friends, waiting to hear the next words to come out of his mouth.

"God, this place has gone to the dogs." Draco snarled, annoyed. "Wait until father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."

"Daddy's boy." Tony fake-coughed.

"You got something to say to me, Gabriel? You and that oaf are the same, you're not that tough. One word to my father, and you'll both be out of here in an instant. The school would be better off without you two dirtying things up around here."

Harry stepped forward, looking ticked off, as Draco and his friends laughed at his little joke.

"Shut up, Malfoy." the Gryffindor boy said.

Crabbe and Goyle both oohed at him, and Draco handed his bag to the former. He and Harry walked towards each other, staring each other down, as the rest of the class watched. Tony stood behind Harry, ready to have his back in case a fight broke out. Then suddenly, a look of panic filled Draco's face, as he suddenly pointed behind Harry and his friends.

"Dementor! Dementor!" he cried.

The students gasped and whirled around to see where he was pointing at. There was nothing there. Upon turning back, Draco and his friends pulled the hoods of their robes over their heads, and made ghostly sounds. Hermione had had enough, and pulled Harry away, shooting a glare at Draco.

"Just ignore him." she muttered, as they walked away.

Before following after them, Tony sneered at his Housemate.

"How long did it take you to come up with that little scheme, Malfoy?" he asked. "Or did daddy hold your hand through the whole thing?"

Draco and his cronies shot him a glare as he departed to join his friends. Ron glanced at Riley and Neville, who finally decided to join the class, and laughed.

"You're supposed to stroke it." he snickered.

Neville, whose school robes were mostly destroyed by the book, set his book down on the log beside him, and nodded, shakily.

"Yeah." he muttered.

Riley walked over to stand beside Tony, and looked at him.

"It gets less traumatizing after the first time." he said.

Tony smirked, remembering how when they tried to read their spellbooks, the books had suddenly attacked them. Hagrid cleared his throat, getting his class' attention, then gestured to the side, imitating a trumpet sound indicating a surprise arrival. The class watched as a massive horse-like creature covered in feathers, with a birds head and talons walked into view.

"Isn't he beautiful?" asked Hagrid. "Say hello to Buckbeak."

He threw a dead ferret into the air, then Buckbeak leapt up to catch it into his mouth and started to eat it.

"Hagrid, exactly what is that?" asked Ron.

"That, Ron, is a hippogriff." replied Hagrid. "First thing you wanna know is they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It just may be the last thing you ever do."

As he spoke, Buckbeak was cleaning his feathers, casually.

"Now, who'd like to come and say hello?" asked Hagrid.

Most of the class quickly took a huge step back. Hagrid missed this, as he was looking at Buckbeak for a moment, but when he looked back, he saw that only two students appeared to have stepped forward.

"Well done, Harry. Riley." he exclaimed, happily. "Well done."

Riley's face stretched into a grin, while Harry looked around, worriedly. He hadn't noticed that the other students had backed away.

"Harry, you can go first, and then Riley can go." the teacher decided. "Sound fair enough?"

Riley nodded, and Hagrid urged for Harry to come forward. Harry remained frozen where he stood, causing Ron to move forward to nudge him along.

"Now, you have to let him make the first move. It's only polite." Hagrid explained, looking at Harry. "So, step up. Give him a nice bow. Then you wait and see if he bows back. If he does, you can go and touch him. If not,...well, we'll get to that later."

He instructed Harry to make his bow, and Harry did so, keeping his eyes on the hippogriff. Buckbeak stared for a moment, then started to squawk. Alarmed, Hagrid looked back at his friend.

"Back off, Harry." he urged, quietly. "Back off!"

Harry stepped back, preparing to get away, but stopped when he had stepped on a branch, snapping it. The class went deadly quiet, waiting in anticipation to see what would happen next. Hagrid told Harry to keep still, and everyone watched as Buckbeak calmed down enough to bow back at Harry.

"Well done, Harry. Well done." chuckled Hagrid.

He turned to throw another dead ferret Buckbeak's way.

"Here, you big brute, you." he added, as the hippogriff nabbed his treat.

After devouring the ferret, Buckbeak let out a belch, causing Tony to chuckle.

"Nice one, Buckbeak." he commented, quietly.

"Right, I think you can go and pat him now." Hagrid instructed to a relieved Harry.

Harry looked up at his teacher, worried, but Hagrid insisted. Harry, nervously, started walking towards the winged beast, going slowly as his teacher instructed. Buckbeak looked down at the boy, as he reached out towards him with one hand, and started to squawk again. Tony heard Hermione gasp from beside him, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her grab Ron's hand. She saw Tony staring at her, and Ron had noticed, too, causing the two Gryffindors to separate quickly. Meanwhile, Harry had stopped walking towards the now calm Buckbeak, and was told by Hagrid to wait for Buckbeak to come to him now. Buckbeak walked towards Harry cautiously, then allowed Harry to pet him. Most of the class started to applaud for Harry, as did Hagrid.

"Well done!" exclaimed Hagrid. "Well done, Harry, well done!"

"Does he get to fly now?" asked a random student.

Hagrid smiled, and walked over towards Harry.

"I think he may let you ride him now." he announced.

Harry quickly looked up at him, now nervous again.

"What?" he asked.

"Come on." Hagrid said, lifting him up.

Despite his protests, the Gryffindor student was hoisted into the air, and placed on Buckbeak's back.

"Don't pull out any of his feathers, because he won't thank you for that." Hagrid told him.

He lightly smacked the hippogriff's backside, and Buckbeak jumped up on his hind legs, squawking once again. He lowered down on all four again, and started to dash off. The students watched as Buckbeak took off into the air with Harry still on his back.

"You want to ride on that?" Tony asked, looking at Riley.

"I don't care about riding Buckbeak, I just wanna pet him." his best friend answered.

The two of them, and the rest of their classmates watched as Harry and Buckbeak circled back over them again. Hagrid whistled to the winged creature, causing Buckbeak to fly towards them again.

"Well done, Harry!" he exclaimed, as Buckbeak landed. "And well done, Buckbeak!"

Most of the class applauded Harry for successfully flying around on the hippogriff, but a small group of students remained displeased. While Hagrid took his student aside to talk to him, Riley saw Draco getting up off of the rock he was sitting on, and storm towards Buckbeak.

"Oh, boy." he moaned.

He quickly took chase after Draco, sensing trouble.

"Yes, you're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute?!" Draco snarled, glaring at Buckbeak.

"Stop, you don't know what you're doing!" Riley shouted, hurrying forward.

He quickly stepped between the Slytherin boy and Buckbeak, who had jumped back up on his hind legs, squawking madly. The students started to scream, as Buckbeak raised his front talons into the air. Riley went to shove Draco away, but Buckbeak had managed to slash at his arm. Riley was less fortunate, as he was struck on his back. He let out a howl of pain, as he crumpled to the ground. Harry rushed to his side, and saw that Riley was bleeding. Hagrid stepped in front of the two students, and tried to calm down his hippogriff. He tore off another ferret from the group tied up to the rope around his neck, and threw it away from them.

"Away, you silly creature!" he shouted, as Buckbeak chased after his snack.

On the ground, Draco whimpered and cried as he gripped his wound.

"It's killed me!" he whined. "It's killed me!"

Beside him, Riley grunted in pain, trying and failing to get back up on his feet.

"Calm down. It-It's just a scratch!" Hagrid responded, helplessly looking between the two injured students.

"Hagrid, they have to be taken to the hospital!" Hermione told him, rushing forward.

Hagrid agreed, and knelt down to pick up Riley, while Crabbe and Goyle moved ahead to get their ringleader.

"You're gonna regret this!" Draco declared, angrily.

"Class dismissed!" announced the teacher.

"You and your bloody chicken!"

"Malfoy, just shut up already!" Riley snapped, annoyed.

* * *

That afternoon at lunch, Draco and Riley were patched up, and returned to join their Housemates for the rest of the day. Riley sat across from Hermione and Harry, next to Ron and Tony, reading from another of his comic books, shrugging off the injury as if it was no big deal. Draco, on the other hand, was milking the attention for all it was worth, even though the whole incident was all his fault, and he had gotten off with just a few minor scratches.

"Does it hurt terribly, Draco?" asked Pansy.

Draco, now sporting a cast and a sling to support his injury, put on a brave face.

"It comes and it goes." he answered, casually. "Still, I consider myself lucky. Madam Pomfrey said another minute, and I could've lost my arm. I couldn't possibly do any homework for at least two weeks."

Behind him, Ron shook his head at the Slytherin.

"Listen to the idiot." he muttered, nodding at Draco. "He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?"

"It didn't hurt that much." said Riley. "She said we'd be fine."

"I'm just glad that you're alright, and Hagrid didn't get fired." Harry said, looking at him.

"Yeah, but I hear Draco's father's furious." Hermione announced, gravely. "We haven't heard the end of this."

"'Haven't heard the end of this', I'll be hearing about it more than you will, Hermione." grumbled Tony. "He's pathetic. Malfoy gets a widdle boo-boo, and he cries home to daddy. Hard to believe he's a teenager."

"Tell me about it." laughed Ron.

The others smirked in agreement, then suddenly Seamus started shouting.

"He's been sighted! He's been sighted!" he shouted.

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Sirius Black!"

Most of the Gryffindors quickly got up and gathered around where he was standing. He placed the newspaper down on the table, and Hermione quickly scanned it.

"Dufftown?! That's not far from here!" she gasped.

"Y-You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?" stammered Neville.

"With dementors at every entrance?" Dean reminded him.

"'Dementors'? He already slipped past them once." Seamus spoke up. "Who's to say he won't do it again?"

"That's right. Black could be anywhere." "It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."

Back over by Riley and Tony, Riley looked at his friend, confused.

"Okay, I'm lost." he muttered. "Who's Sirius Black?"

"Some maniac wizard out to kill Harry." Tony replied, calmly.

"Oh."

Riley focused his attention back onto his comic books, then what Tony said finally hit him like a stack of bricks.

"Come again?" he asked.

* * *

And here's your next chapter, everyone! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.


	5. Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

Chapter Five: Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

The third year students waited in front of a cabinet that stood in the front of the classroom. The cabinet shook ominously, indicating that their lesson waited inside.

"Intriguing, isn't it?" asked Prof. Lupin. "Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?"

"That's a boggart, that is." answered Dean.

"Very good, Mr. Thomas. Now can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?"

"No one knows." Hermione answered next.

She stood behind a surprised Ron, who stood with Harry, Ron, and Tony near the front.

"When did she get here?" asked Ron.

Harry shrugged in response, while Hermione continued.

"Boggarts are shape-shifters, they take the shape of whatever a person fears the most." the latter explained. "That's what makes them so..."

"'So terrifying', yes, yes, yes." Prof. Lupin finished, walking forward. "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart. Let's practice it now."

He saw that several of the students were already taking out their wands, and held up a hand to stop them.

"Without wands, please." he instructed, quickly.

The students replaced their wands in their pockets, and returned their attention to their professor.

"After me. _Riddikulus!_ " Prof. Lupin announced, clearly.

" _Riddikulus!_ " the class chorused.

"Very good. A little louder and very clear. Listen: _Riddikulus_!"

Most of the students repeated the incantation again, while a certain group of students failed to do so.

"Very good. So much for the easy part. You see, the incantation alone is not enough." Prof. Lupin told his class. "What really finishes a boggart is laughter."

"Laughter?" Tony repeated, disbelievingly.

"Indeed, Mr. Gabriel. You need to force it to assume shape you find truly amusing. Let me explain."

For a moment, Prof. Lupin's eyes browsed through the crowd until they settled on Neville.

"Neville, would you join me, please?" he asked.

Neville stood there frozen for a moment, as the other students stared. The sounds of the cabinet shaking violently gave the poor boy more reason to stay back, but Prof. Lupin persisted in encouraging the young Gryffindor to join him at the front. Eventually, Neville gave in, and walked towards his professor at the front.

"Hello." Prof. Lupin greeted, kindly. "Neville, what frightens you most of all?"

Apparently Neville had said something, but not loud enough, because Prof. Lupin appeared a little confused.

"Sorry?" he beckoned.

"Prof. Snape." Neville answered, loudly.

The students laughed at his response, as did their teacher, who nodded, knowingly.

"Prof. Snape." he repeated, chuckling. "Yes, frightens all. And I believe you live with your grandmother."

"Yes, but I don't want that boggart to turn into her either." Neville told him.

While the students laughed at Neville again, Tony grimaced.

"Prof. Snape turning into an old woman. That's kind of scary." he muttered to his friends.

"No, it won't." Prof. Lupin reassured Neville. "I want you to picture her clothes. Only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind."

"She carries a red handbag,-" Neville started to list.

"We don't need to hear. As long as you see it, we'll see it. Now, when I open that wardrobe, here's what I want you to do."

Prof. Lupin walked over to Neville, and started whispering something in his ear. While he did this, Tony looked at Harry.

"Y'know, I'm really hoping he doesn't have me do it." he whispered.

"Still afraid of basilisks, are you?" asked Harry.

"Perhaps I am."

"Hermione, you're the know-it-all, even if it's a fake, can a boggart basilisk kill people like a normal one can?" asked Ron.

To his, and Harry, Riley, and Tony's displeasure, Hermione looked a little reluctant to answer.

"It's never happened before." she admitted. "I don't know what could happen."

Tony's face contorted into a look of horror, as he faced forward, dreadfully.

"I'm gonna kill the entire class with my fear." he muttered. "I'm gonna become an accidental murderer."

"No, you're not." Harry reassured him. "We'll test it out. Ron's afraid of spiders, and Riley...what's your greatest fear?"

"Well, considering I've overcome my fear of flying and heights, I'd have to say it's death by bronze bull, You-Know-Who, or perhaps Lex Luthor or Darkseid." replied Riley.

"You two are going to kill us all." Ron hissed, rounding on him.

"Oh, like we mean it!" Tony whispered back, hotly.

Harry, Hermione, and Riley sighed, and looked away as their friends started a quiet argument with each other. Meanwhile, Neville was preparing himself for Prof. Lupin to let the boggart out of the cabinet.

"One,...two,...three." Prof. Lupin spoke, waving his wand at the cabinet.

The door opened, and the students watched, holding their breath. Slowly, Prof. Snape clambered out of the babinet, much to the surprise of many. Neville looked rooted to the spot, and not even Ron and Tony were arguing anymore.

"Think, Neville, think." Prof. Lupin spoke to his student.

Prof. Snape marched over towards Neville menacingly, but Neville finally found his courage, and waved his wand at Prof. Snape.

" _Riddikulus_!" he shouted.

Prof. Snape now became dressed in a woman's clothing, with stuffed cats hanging around her neck like a boa, and there was one on his hat. The students broke out into laughter, along with Prof. Lupin, as Prof. Snape looked around, startled.

"Wonderful, Neville! Wonderful!" cheered Prof. Lupin. "Incredible! Okay, to the back, Neville. Everyone, form a line..."

The students hurried to form a line, pushing and shoving each other to get a good spot. Ron and Riley unfortunately found themselves at the front, as they were being shoved forward.

"Hey, Ron, you go first." Riley offered, pushing Ron ahead of himself.

"Stop pushing, you maniac!" Ron snapped, pushing back.

"I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most, and turn it into something funny." Prof. Lupin reminded his students, as he walked to the side.

He placed the needle of his phonograph on the record, and music started to fill the room.

"Next! Ron!" called Prof. Lupin.

Ron nervously stepped forward, facing the pretend Prof. Snape, as his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher urged him to be brave. As he said this, the boggart changed from Prof. Snape into a giant spider. Ron let out a small whimper of fear, and dug into his robes to pull out his wand. Tony then pushed Hermione in front of him.

"You take my place." he offered.

"Always the gentleman." Hermione muttered, sarcastically.

"Wand at the ready, Ron." Prof. Lupin reminded his student. "Wand at the ready."

Ron waved his wand at the spider, and spoke the incantation.

" _Riddikulus_!" he shouted.

The spider now suddenly had skates on it's legs, and was now trying not to fall down as it started attempted to keep it's footing. The students broke out into laughter again, and Ron was sent to the back of the line with Neville.

"Riley, you're up!" called Prof. Lupin.

Riley gulped, and stepped forward to take his place before the boggart. The spider transformed itself into a tall red-haired clown with blue eyes. He was dressed in a colorful shirt with frilly cuffs on the sleeves, and yellow pantaloons with big red shoes.

"That doesn't look like the bad guys from his comic books." Hermione pointed out, confused.

"No, that's just worse." Tony told her and Harry. "You see, Deran talked us into watching this movie he bought about a couple of years ago, to see if it would scare us."

"And it worked." Harry guessed, gesturing at Riley.

"He doesn't look that scary to me." shrugged Hermione.

The clown lowered his head for a moment, then when he lifted his head up again, several of the students suddenly screamed for a moment, jumping back. The clown's eyes were now yellow with light brown irises, and his teeth were sharpened like vampire fangs as he snarled at Riley.

"I take back what I said." Hermione admitted, pointing at the clown. "That is scary."

"Riley, use the spell, quick!" Prof. Lupin called, urgently.

Riley wouldn't move though. Tony tapped his temple with his fingers, trying to think of something. Then suddenly,...

"Riley, remember that game I showed you?" he called out to his best friend. "The one where you laughed at me because of that stupid chicken thing?"

Riley brightened up, and raised his wand quickly, pointing it at the clown.

" _Riddikulus_!" he shouted.

A moment later, a flock of chickens appeared and started swarming around the clown, pecking at it. Riley broke out into laughter, with the rest of the class behind him, and he headed to the back of the line to join Ron and Neville. Harry looked over at Tony, who was still laughing.

"I remember Dudley having a game like this." he said, thoughtfully. "Threw it out the window because of that."

"Sounds like what I did the first time it happened." Tony responded, shrugging.

"Excellent work, Riley!" Prof. Lupin cheered, excitedly. "Parvati, next!"

For Parvati Patil of Gryffindor, it was a giant cobra, which hissed at the young girl who was confronting it. Within moments, Parvati cast the incantation, and the cobra changed into a jack-in-the-box with a clown popping out of it on a spring. Then it was Harry's turn, and Prof. Lupin looked worried now, as did Tony.

"What do you suppose his fear is going to be?" Tony asked, looking at Hermione.

In less than a second, his question was answered, and a familiar-looking cloaked figure appeared in the place of the jack-in-a-box, just as Prof. Lupin rushed in between his student and the boggart.

"Here!" he shouted.

The dementor changed into a cloudy night with a full moon, then Prof. Lupin waved his wand at it.

" _Riddikulus!_ " he yelled.

The full moon in the scene changed into a balloon, and started to deflate, as the clouds surrounding it vanished. The balloon flew all around the room, zooming back and forth until it flew into the cabinet where it came from, the door sealing shut behind it.

"Right. Sorry about that." Prof. Lupin apologized to his disgruntled students. "That's enough for today. Collect your books from the back of the class. That's the end of the lesson."

He apologized again to his students as they shuffled to the back of the room to collect their things, while Harry stood rooted to the spot staring at the place where the boggart was floating, masquerading as the dementor.

* * *

"I don't want to go!" complained Riley.

"You're going!" Tony retorted, as he and Ron dragged him down the hall.

"I already made plans!"

"Take a raincheck!" said Ron.

The third year students were to be going on their first trip to Hogsmeade today, and just about everyone was excited about it. All except for two people. Riley secretly made plans to hang out with Luna Lovegood, his new friend from the previous year, while the upperclassmen were gone. Ron and Tony, however, were forcing him to come along so they could experience their first trip together. The other person, well, you would find that out in a moment. After handing their permission slips to Prof. McGonagall, the three boys stood with the group by Hermione, as their teacher reminded them of the rules.

"Remember, these visits to Hogsmeade Village are a privilege." Prof. McGonagall reminded her students. "Should your behavior reflect poorly on the school in any way, that privilege shall not be extended again."

Just then Harry rushed forward, with his permission slip in hand, but to his displeasure, it was not taken. Before he left home, Harry tried to have his uncle sign the permission slip, as Vernon and Petunia Dursley were his only living guardians, but they did not after Harry had blown up his cruel aunt just a short while before his hasty departure. While knowing of Harry's predicament, Prof. McGonagall was not about to bend the rules for any student like this. Only Hermione, Ron, Tony, and Riley lingered behind to bid a last farewell to their friend who would be staying behind, before they took off with the rest of the group.

It was a bit of a long walk to Hogsmeade, and on the way there, little pamphlets were handed out to each of the students detailing the shops and sites that they would find there.

"A sweets shop, a jokes shop, a shop for quills," Tony listed, as he scanned the pamphlet. "Man, this place has just about everything."

"Everything but a comic book shop." muttered Riley.

"Hey, Ry, it looks like when your girlfriend gets the chance to go to Hogsmeade, you two can go to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop." Hermione joked, grinning.

Tony, Seamus, and Dean burst out into laughter, while Riley glared at his friends, and Ron looked from Hermione to Riley to the other three boys, confused.

"Will someone please tell me who this girlfriend is?" he demanded, annoyed.

Upon meeting Luna, as well as riding the Hogwarts Express with her the previous year, Hermione, Tony, and several others had joked about Riley and Luna being a couple, despite Riley's protests that they were just friends. Since Harry and Ron were late getting on the train because of a mischievous house elf, they were left in the dark about the joke out of respect to Riley. Or at least so he thinks.

The students finally arrived at Hogsmeade, and Prof. McGonagall looked at the group.

"Now, I will only say this once, so I expect you all have your listening ears on." she announced, her tone very serious. "I expect no monkey business from the lot of you. And that means a certain number of you."

Tony and Riley noticed that she was looking their way, and looked around, innocently, while Tony was whistling a cheerful tune. The two of them and their friends had a reputation of getting into mischief, even if it was for the right reasons. Finally, the students were dismissed, and Ron, Tony, and the Weasley twins took off to examine the joke shop, while Hermione left to check out the book store, and Riley went to buy some sweets from the sweets shop for Harry. On his way to the shop, Riley saw a black dog looking at him from beside one of the shops. Riley looked from side to side, seeing that no one had noticed the dog either, then walked over to the dog.

"Hey there." he greeted, good-naturedly. "You lost?"

The dog grunted as it panted at him.

"Man, and I don't think they have any places here where I can get you some food," Riley muttered, looking around again. "Well, food that won't make you sick. Mom says dogs can't eat candy."

Just then, a woman in robes walked out of a nearby pub, and looked at him.

"Excuse me?" she called out.

Riley and the dog looked up at her, and saw she had a couple of trays in her hands.

"Could you pass this along to that dog, please?" the woman asked, as Riley took the trays. "That dog's been here for a while now, and I'm not about to let the poor thing starve."

"Absolutely." answered Riley.

He felt a little better now that someone was feeding the dog. While the dog began to eat, Riley looked up at the witch.

"What's his name?" he asked.

"I don't know." answered the woman. "I call him 'Snuffles' though."

"That's a nice name."

Riley reached out to pet the dog.

"Hiya, Snuffles." he greeted.

The dog was friendly enough to allow himself to be petted, but didn't lick the boy.

* * *

A while later, the students returned from their trip, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Riley headed on back up to the Gryffindor Tower to enjoy the snacks that Riley had purchased for them to share. Ron was still talking about the trip, despite the looks that Hermione and Riley had given him. They wanted to try and spare Harry's feelings as much as possible.

"Honeyduke's Sweetshop is brilliant," commented Ron. "But nothing beats Zonko's Joke Shop. We never got to go to the Shrieking Shack."

"Good thing, too." said Riley. "Can you imagine the chaos your brothers and Tony would create if we go there?"

Hermione obviously did, and she was shaking her head at the thought.

"Thanks a lot." she muttered.

"Take Colin's camera with you guys for when that day comes." Harry told Riley and Ron. "I want pictures."

As the Gryffindors climbed up the moving staircase, they noticed a commotion right around outside where the Fat Lady's portrait was.

"What's going on?" asked Harry.

"Probably Neville's forgot the password again." replied Ron.

"Uh, Ron?" Riley called out.

Ron turned to him, and saw him pointing at Neville, who was standing right behind them.

"Oh, you're there." he spoke in realization.

When the staircase finally locked onto the platform leading to the portrait, the group moved forward.

"Let me through, please!" Percy's voice called, as he raced down another staircase in front of them. "Excuse me! I'm Head Boy!"

The people in the other portraits were exclaiming, gasping, and shouting in panic, increasing the curiosity of the others.

"Get back, all of you." ordered Percy. "No one is to enter this dormitory until it's fully been searched."

Finally, Ginny walked back towards Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Riley. She looked very panicked.

"The Fat Lady!" she cried. "She's gone!"

Harry and Riley quickly looked at each other, alarmed, then looked back at the painting. When the people backed away from it enough, they could see that the portrait was slashed in a few places.

"Serves her right." commented Ron. "She was a terrible singer."

"It's not funny, Ron!" scolded Hermione.

"What do you think could have happened?" asked Riley.

"I don't think we want to find out." replied Harry.

The subjects in the paintings searched each portrait for the Fat Lady, while Percy instructed the students to back away from the portrait which belonged to the her and told the other students from the other houses to return to their Houses.

"Alright, be quiet!" ordered Percy. "The headmaster's here!"

Behind the group Harry, Hermione, Ron, Riley, Neville, and Ginny were with, Prof. Dumbledore and Filch pushed past them to see what the commotion was about.

"Come on, move!" barked Filch.

"You heard!" yelled Percy. "Move!"

While Prof. Dumbledore and Filch were examining the portrait, Riley and some of the other students were looking around for the Fat Lady. Finally, Riley caught sight of someone hiding behind a hippo in another painting. When a head poked out from it, he saw that it was the Fat Lady. Riley turned around, and nudged Filch in the shoulder.

"Sir?" he called.

Filch turned to see what he wanted, and Riley pointed up at the portrait where the Fat Lady was hiding.

"Good eye, son." he muttered.

"Mr. Filch, round up the ghosts." ordered Prof. Dumbledore. "Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the Fat Lady."

"There's no need for ghosts, professor."

Filch pointed up at the portrait that Riley was pointing at.

"The Fat Lady is there." he announced.

The students let out a gasp, and everyone quickly hurried up the staircase towards the missing subject, while Percy reminded everyone that he was Head Boy. Prof. Dumbledore and Filch pushed their way up to the speak with the Fat Lady to get some answers.

"Dear lady, who did this to you?" the former asked.

The Fat Lady whimpered in terror, as she poked her head up again.

"Eyes like the devil, he's got, and a soul as dark as his name." she explained, fearfully. "It's him, headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle! Sirius Black!"

With a frightened gasp and a sob, she ducked down again.

"Secure the castle, Mr. Filch." ordered Prof. Dumbledore.

He then looked back at the students.

"The rest of you, to the Great Hall!" he barked.

And that was how the entire school went under lockdown for the first time.

* * *

Sorry for the late update, guys. Too many things going on here, and worse of all, I'm on snow-shoveling duty because my back is intact and both of my arms are functioning just fine. Zip-a-dee-frakking-doo-dah.

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.


	6. Harry's Descent

Chapter Six: Harry's Descent

People were scared enough that Sirius Black had invaded the castle, but nobody was more scared than the Gryffindor students. And for good reason.

"What villains are these that trespass upon my private lands?!" the new subject of the portrait guarding Gryffindor Tower demanded. "Who dares challenge Sir Cadogen?!"

Sir Cadogen fancied himself to be a knight as great and mighty as any other famous knight of old, but the way he was waving his weapon around, nobody could take him seriously. Even the people in the portraits surrounding him laughed as they watched the spectacle he was making of himself.

"Back, you scurvy braggarts!" Sir Cadogen growled, menacingly. "You rogues!"

As he shouted the last part, he had fallen over backwards out of sight. Many of the Gryffindor students and Tony were watching this with mystified expressions.

"Wow, you guys weren't kidding." observed Tony.

"He's barking mad, isn't he, Tony?" asked Seamus.

Tony nodded slowly in agreement.

"What'd you expect?" asked Dean. "After what happened to the Fat Lady, none of the other pictures would take the job."

"But he keeps changing the password." Neville pointed out, holding a small piece of paper in his hands. "That's twice already this morning. I've taken to keeping a list."

He and the other students started heading down the stairs, as Sir Cadogen called out to them.

"Farewell, comrades!" he shouted, cheerfully. "If ever you need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir..."

He paused when his faceplate fell onto his face after he pounded on his chestplate eagerly, and pushed it back up, resuming to smile at the students.

"...Cadogen!" he finished.

"Yeah." Ron agreed, half-heartedly. "We'll call you, if we need anyone mental."

As he and the other Gryffindors headed down the stairs, Riley patted Harry on the shoulder.

"No offense, but we might as well hang a 'Welcome, Sirius Black' sign and defend ourselves." he muttered.

"I'll bring the books." offered Hermione.

The Third Year students arrived at their Defense Against the Dark Arts class minutes later, and Harry and Ron sat at a desk beside Riley. While waiting for Prof. Lupin to arrive, Harry leaned over to the side to talk with Riley.

"Remember, Wood wants to see us later." he reminded his friend. "He wants to go over the strategies."

"Hopefully he'll have rubber insulation for our brooms." said Riley. "Fred and George's stories about getting struck by lightning are freaking me out."

Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut, and the students looked back to see Prof. Snape stroding down the aisle towards the front of the classroom. He held out his wand, and closed the windows, quickly shutting up everyone in the class in record time. When he reached the front of the class, tugged on the string and lowered the projection screen down, before looking at his students.

"Turn to page 394." he spoke.

The students looked at each other, nervously, then began opening their books.

"Why do I get the feeling this lesson isn't going to be fun?" asked Riley.

"Shut up before he whacks you." Tony responded, quietly.

They quickly turned their books to page 394, as Prof. Snape started making his way to the back of the class again.

"Excuse me, sir." called Harry. "Where's Prof. Lupin?"

"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter?" responded Prof. Snape. "Suffice it to say your professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394."

Harry opened up his book, and started flipping through the pages. However, Prof. Snape saw that Ron was taking his time in getting to the right page, and helped him out. The subject of today's lesson was on...

"'Werewolves'?" Ron read, confused.

"But sir, we just learned about red caps and hinkypunks." Hermione's voice pointed out. "We're not meant to start that for weeks."

Ron, Riley, and Tony quickly looked up to see that she was sitting next to Harry, who was just as startled as his friends, and the rest of the class for that matter, were. Prof. Snape, however, did not notice this.

"Quiet." he spoke, warningly.

Tony stood up, gesturing for his teacher to wait before continuing the lesson, and walked over to Hermione.

"You weren't there a second ago." he told her. "I could've sworn that you were not there."

"Don't be silly, Tony." Hermione argued, as if she had been here in class the whole time. "I've been here this whole time."

"No, you haven't. I've been sitting at this desk with Riley, and you were not here."

"You're not here in class right now."

Tony spent the next ten seconds trying to form words, but it ended up in splutters and stammers. Finally, Riley walked over to escort his best friend back into his seat.

"Come on, Tony, let's get this class over and done with." he told him. "You can continue now, sir!" he added, looking back at Prof. Snape.

Prof. Snape stared at the two boys for a moment, then started making his way back towards the screen.

"Now, which one of you can tell me between an Animagus and a werewolf?" he asked.

Predictably, Hermione raised her hand. And predictably, Prof. Snape ignored her.

"No one?" he asked. "How disappointing?"

"Please, sir." Hermione sighed, exhasperated. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal, a werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he got the chance. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its own kind."

Draco made a howling noise similar to a werewolf's, causing Crabbe to laugh.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." said Prof. Snape.

Then he turned his attention to Hermione.

"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger." he said, his eyes boring into the female Gryffindor's. "Are you incapable of restraining yourself, or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

"He's got a point, you know." Ron whispered to Hermione.

"Five points from Gryffindor."

Tony glanced at Hermione for a moment, then looked at Prof. Snape.

"No offense, sir, but she just answered the question." Tony pointed out. "I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but..."

"Anymore of your interruptions, Mr. Gabriel, and you will be served a detention." Prof. Snape told him.

As he returned to his lecture, Hermione gave her friend a quick smile of thanks. Meanwhile, Draco had just sent an origami bird towards Harry.

"As an antidate to your ignorance, and on my desk by Monday morning, two rolls of parchment on the werewolf with particular emphasis on recognizing it." announced Prof. Snape.

The students groaned instantly.

"Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow." complained Harry.

Prof. Snape quickly marched over to his desk.

"Then I suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter." he advised his student. "Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page 394."

He started making his way to the back of the classroom again, while Harry unfolded the origami bird that flown over to his desk. Tony glanced over at him, then at Riley.

"What about lightning striking you?" he asked, quietly.

"Tony, if anyone on our team gets struck by lightning tomorrow, I will kill you." replied Riley.

The next morning, on a cold, stormy day, the students gathered outside to watch Gryffindor play against Hufflepuff. Despite the freezing downpour and the thunder, the students' spirits were not dampened. Riley flew down before the Gryffindor bleachers, and knocked a Bludger away, while the Gryffindors behind him cheered.

"Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor!" the Gryffindors cheered.

"Go, Harry!" shouted Hermione. "Go, Harry!"

"Knock 'em out, Ry!" yelled Tony.

They watched as their friends zoomed through the air, trying to do their jobs. Harry was pursuing the Golden Snitch the best he could, while Riley was trying to keep the Bludgers away from him. Unfortunately, lightning tended to strike the players now and then. One of the Chasers of the Gryffindor team was the recent victim of one, and was sent crashing to the ground when the tail of her broomstick was struck.

"This could be bad." observed Seamus.

"Perhaps they should've postponed it for another day." agreed Neville.

"Were you here for the last two games?" asked Ron.

Riley looked up, and saw that Harry and the Hufflepuff Seeker were flying further upwards into the sky, around where the teachers were sitting. Then he heard a wooshing sound, and saw a Bludger heading his way. He raised his bat to strike it back, but before he could, there was a flash of light, and the young Beater felt intense pain throughout his body, and lost control. His friends watched as he crumpled to the ground, and leaned over the railing. Riley laid on the soggy ground, face-up, and barely conscious.

"Riley!" shouted Ron. "Riley, you alright?!"

Riley heard his friend shouting at him, and looked up at the sky, stunned. His whole body was in pain, and he couldn't move his arms or legs. Not even his pinky finger. The others looked back up at the sky, worried now more than ever. They hoped that Harry wouldn't be struck next. Unfortunately, the two Seekers weren't so lucky. The Hufflepuff Seeker ended up being struck by lightning as well, and Harry, well, he almost had it far worse. Several Dementors flocked into the sky, and swarmed around him. Suddenly, Harry had fallen off his broomstick, and was now plummeting towards the ground. Several people in the crowd were screaming with fear, if Harry had crashed from that height, he would never have survived.

"Hermione, do something!" yelled Tony.

"What do you want me to do?!" asked Hermione.

"You're the smart one!"

However, Harry's fall started to slow, and he landed gently onto the ground. Two players flew down towards Madame Hooch, and began talking with her. Madame Hooch then blew her whistle, and looked around at the students.

"Tie game!" she shouted. "Both teams agreed to a tie!"

The students and teachers then began moving off of the bleachers and headed back to the school. A few hours later, the remainders of the Gryffindor team, Ron, Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ginny, and Tony arrived at the infirmary to see their friends to make sure that they were alright. Harry looked alright, but Riley looked a little fried and was twitching occasionally. Madame Pomfrey told the group that Riley was going to take a while, but Harry would be coming around soon since he wasn't all that banged up.

"He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" asked Ron.

"Peaky?" repeated Fred. "What do you expect? He fell over a hundred feet."

"Yeah, come on, Ron. Let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see what you look like." said George.

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does." Harry joked, weakly.

The others looked down at him, relieved. He had woken up at last.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, as Harry started to sit up.

"Oh, brilliant." replied Harry.

"You gave us a right good scare, mate." said George.

"What happened?"

"Well, you fell off your broom." replied Ron.

"Really? I meant the match. Who won?"

"No one. Wood asked for a draw, since both Seekers were out." explained Tony. "Guy knows a lot about honor."

Harry nodded, a little relieved.

"Right. No one blames you, Harry." said Hermione. "Dementors aren't supposed to be inside the grounds. Dumbledore's furious. As soon as he saved you, he sent them straight off."

"I've gotta tell you, seeing him angry is a lot scarier than seeing Prof. McGonagall angry." chuckled Tony. "And that's saying something."

"There's, uh, something else you should know, too." Ron announced, uneasily. "Harry, um,..."

Harry noticed at last the bundle in his arms, and watched as Ron stepped forward.

"When you fell, your broom, it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow, and..." Ron continued, nervously. "...well,..."

He unwrapped the bundle a little revealing the splintered remains of Harry's prized broom. The Nimbus 2000 was now in shambles. Then Harry noticed that someone was not with the group.

"Where's Riley?" he asked.

As he asked this, the crowd either nodded or pointed to the side. Harry looked beside him, and saw Riley laying on the bed beside him, knocked out.

"He's going to be there for a while." explained Tony.

* * *

Another month came and went, and the injured Quidditch players recovered in time. According to Madam Pomfrey, Riley was suffering from paralysis, and had to use a cane to help him walk until he recovered, which he and his friends were told could take days. Other than that, he had an occasional twitch and stutter, which several of the Slytherin students took to mocking. Within days, the other students and teachers started adapting to the stammering, which had started to get better over time, but the twitches took longer.

Finally, on the day before the holidays, a large group of them left for another Hogsmeade weekend. Despite Riley's protests, Hermione, Ron, and Tony insisted that he join them on this one. However, Riley and Tony spent most of this visit discussing what to do over the holidays with Draco Malfoy.

"How ab-b-bout an all-night gaming and m-movie fest?" suggested Riley.

"Somehow, he doesn't seem like the game and movie type." said Tony.

"Well, we've got t-to try."

"I know, I know. If we meet up with my aunt, I'll ask her for suggestions."

They soon caught sight of Ron and Hermione standing by the fence looking out at the horizon.

"Do you want to move a bit closer?" asked Hermione.

Ron looked at her, startled.

"To the Shrieking Shack?" Hermione corrected herself.

"Oh. Actually, I'm fine here." responded Ron.

"I thought I sensed chemistry between you two." Tony teased, as he walked towards the two.

Hermione and Ron turned to face him and Riley as they walked their way.

"We're about to g-go g-g-get a warm drink." Riley stammered, pleasantly. "You guys up f-f-for it?"

"Yeah." replied Ron.

"So, I hear you guys are going back home for the holidays." said Hermione. "I thought that we agreed to spend our Christmases at Hogwarts."

"Oh, Grandpa Neil's coming by, and he wants to see us." Tony lied, casually. "We just can't turn down one of his visits."

"Well, well, look who's here." a familiar voice announced.

The group turned to see Draco, Crabbe, and a third Slytherin male approaching them.

"You two shopping for your new dream home?" asked Draco. "Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasle-Bee? Don't your family sleep in, uh, one room?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." growled Ron.

"Ooh, not very friendly. Boys, I think it's time we teach Weasle-Bee how to respect his superiors."

Draco and his two cronies began cracking his knuckles, eager for a fight. Hermione laughed, as she and Tony stepped forward, ready to fight.

"Hope you don't mean yourself." she retorted.

"How dare you talk to me!" snarled Draco. "You filthy little Mudblood!"

"At least she doesn't write home to daddy saying he got a boo-boo." Tony pointed out, smirking.

Draco glared at him, then reared his fist back, ready to punch him.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." grinned Tony. "Bring it on!"

Before a fight could occur though, a snowball struck Draco on the shoulder. The others looked around, wondering who threw it. There was no one else around besides the seven of them.

"Who is that?" called Draco.

His voice carried a hint of panic, as did his expression. Whoever threw the snowball was doing a good job of getting his goat. Suddenly, another snowball was thrown at him, but there was nobody around who threw it. More and more of them started to pelt the leader of the bullies, while Tony laughed, impressed.

"Don't stand there!" Draco snapped, shoving Crabbe back a little. "Do something!"

"What?" asked Crabbe.

Suddenly, the hat on the third bully's head was pulled down over his eyes, and Crabbe's pants were yanked down, causing him to yelp in surprise. As Crabbe reached down to pull his pants back up, he was shoved headfirst into the snow. Tony and the other Gryffindors burst into laughter, but none were laughing as hard as Hermione and Tony. The third Slytherin bully's scarf flew up, and he yelped in fear as he was turned around and around and around. Then Draco suddenly fell over again, and the other boy did as well. Next, Draco was dragged towards the opening in the fence, and tried in vain stop himself.

"What's up, Malfoy?" asked Ron. "Lost your skis?"

Draco finally got free, and scrambled back towards his friends, while the other four laughed harder than ever. It was then Draco decided to book it, and shoved his way past his friends to get out of there first.

"Get out of the way!" he yelped. "Move!"

"Malfoy! Wait!" whined Crabbe. "Wait!"

As the three bullies ran out of sight, Hermione, Tony, Ron, and Riley laughed at them, only for something to grab at the strings at the end of Ron's cap, making it seem like a ghost was lifting them up and down. One of Riley's comic books flew out of his bag, while a lock of Hermione's hair started floating up and down as well.

"Harry!" Hermione scolded, playfully.

Harry emerged from his Invisibility Cloak, laughing as well. His friends laughed with him, while Ron looked at him, startled.

"Bloody hell, Harry." he spoke, shaken up a little. "That was not funny."

"You're r-right." agreed Riley. "That w-w-was priceless!"

"I wish I thought of that!" laughed Tony. "You've gotta tell the twins that one!"

As the five friends made their way back to the village, Harry explained what had brought him here. The twins had given him something called a Marauder's Map, which contained a map of Hogwarts and it's surroundings, plus every hidden passageway contained within Hogwarts. By using it and hiding under his Invisibility Cloak, Harry came to Hogsmeade to enjoy a trip with his friends.

"Those weasels!" growled Ron. "Never told me about any Marauder's Map.

"Harry's not going to keep it." Hermione pointed out. "He's going to turn it over to Prof. McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?"

"Oh, sure. Along with his Invisibility Cloak."

"Come on, H-Hermione. Maybe this can work out for our si-si-side." Riley stated, looking at Hermione. "Maybe Harry can use this to keep a-a look out for Sirius Black."

"Yeah, that's the kind of thing we need on our crazy little adventures." agreed Tony. "We can know where the bad guy is and who it is this time."

Hermione glared at the two, as they smiled back at her, innocently. Then she looked over at an older woman standing nearby, fixing her sign.

"Oh, look who it is!" she exclaimed. "Madam Rosmerta! Ron fancies her!"

Harry, Riley, and Tony slowly turned to stare at Ron, all three raising an eyebrow.

"That's not true!" the latter defended.

Then they heard familiar voices talking, and saw Prof. McGonagall and Hagrid nearby the Three Broomsticks, talking with someone. An older man in black robes and a black hat standing in a carriage.

"Allow me, Minister." offered Hagrid.

He reached down, and pulled the door open, then off completely.

"Oh, thanks!" the other man responded.

"Who's that?" asked Riley.

"Cornelius Fudge." replied Ron. "The Minister for Magic."

"Oh, so that's him." said Tony. "Cool."

They watched as the grown-ups continued to talk. Madam Rosmerta was complaining about the dementors showing up around her pub, then the subject shifted to Sirius Black being in Hogsmeade, then suddenly Fudge leaned in to mutter something in Madam Rosmerta's ear.

"Harry Potter?" Madam Rosmerta exclaimed suddenly.

Prof. McGonagall and Fudge quickly shushed her, looking around to make sure that nobody was looking or listening, then ushered her inside. Suddenly, Harry vanished out of sight, and his friends looked at where he was standing to find footprints appearing in the snow, leading up to the pub.

"Harry!" Hermione called out to her friend, quietly.

She and the others followed after him, hurrying into the pub, but were stopped from coming in any further by several talking shrunken heads.

"I say, no underage wizards allowed in today!" one of them hollared.

"Shut the damned door!" another one barked.

Tony was too stunned to respond, while Riley bowed his head, apologetically.

"S-Sorry." he said.

"Why are you apologizing?" asked Hermione. "They're the ones being rude!"

"Thick heads." agreed Ron.

As Hermione started to close the door, they could hear the talking heads still talking about what Ron said, and calling them "whipper-snappers".

"We need walkie talkies for this kind of thing." muttered Tony.

"He's probably going to be a while." said Hermione. "Riley, do you have any of your books?"

"Yeah." replied Riley.

The four friends walked to the side, and sat down on a bench. Riley distributed three books to his friends, and took one out for himself, all four of them beginning to read while waiting for Harry. Ron, however, examined his book curiously.

"'Howl's Moving Castle'?" he read. "Is it any good?"

"Yeah." answered Riley. "I-It's got magic i-in it."

As the friends waited for Harry to return, they began to read the books. Then after a few minutes, they saw footprints appear in the snow.

"That was fast." commented Tony.

To the group's surprise though, Harry didn't meet up with the others. Instead, he shoved his way through a group of carolers, and Hermione, Ron, Tony, and Riley hurried after him, apologizing to the carolers as they passed. They made their way up a hill, and looked around for any sign of Harry, then they stopped when they heard something. The sound of someone crying. Hermione was the first to walk towards Harry, and the boys cautiously followed after her, but at a distance. Hermione reached up, and pulled the cloak off of their friend, revealing him, then Harry looked up at her.

"Harry, what happened?" asked Hermione.

Harry didn't answer immediately, but the others could tell that it was bad.

"He was their friend." he spoke finally. "And he betrayed them."

His face then slowly changed from a look of pain and sadness to rage.

"He was their friend!" he shouted.

The others didn't know who Harry was referring to at first, but then realized that he meant Sirius Black.

"I hope he finds me." declared Harry. "Because when he does, I'm going to be ready. Because when he does, I'm going to kill him!"

* * *

Double update. Merry Christmas, guys!

Disclaimer: Only own my OCs the Crosses, the Gabriels, Neil Masters, and the good Slytherin OCs. And the alterations to the actual plot of the series. I don't own any bands, comics, books, the real HP characters, anything of the kind.


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